So baby boy will be 4 weeks old this week. During the day I can only get him to nurse for 10 minutes at the longest. At night, its a little better b/c we'll do a diaper change to wake him up between breasts and he'll go a little longer but again, he'll only go around 15 minutes total. I'm convinced he's not getting enough hindmilk (I don't know why, I'm just positive he isn't). We have a weight check tomorrow (b/c the little piggy gained 1lb 5oz between his first appt and two week appt and the doc wanted to make sure there wasn't some other reason for the high weight gain). Anyways, I have a lot of questions:

1. How long "should" he be nursing at a sitting? I know every baby is different but did anyone else have a "fast eater" or a baby that didn't nurse very long?

2. What color should his poo be? I heard its supposed to be yellow if he's getting enough hindmilk and its greenish if he's not getting enough. Or does it matter. Its yellow most of the time but sometimes its straight up green.

3. How do I tell when he's emptied a boob? I know its supposed to be soft, which I can tell, but how soft? If I can still express easily without trying to hard should I put him back on that boob or try the other. Sometimes I go to the other, thinking he's not getting anything more from the first and he only sucks for 4-5 minutes then he's done. So that boob is still full. Should I do anything to empty it or just do like I have been and start on it the next feeding?

4. I'm still getting engorged sometimes. Not all the time but at night time when my body thinks he should eat I get engorged, so I'm still leaking EVERYWHERE. How long until it figures out the eating schedule? Does it take awhile? I thought I'd be passed this by now.

5. I want to start pumping to get up a supply just in case I happen to get a job sometime in the future. When should I do this? With the engorgement I don't want to do it and make it worse, KWIM? Should I do it after I feed him? Both boobs or only the boob he ate off of?

I'm sure I'll think of more questions, but any suggestions/ideas would be appreciated! Thanks ladies!

my general thought is listen to your baby, does he seem starving? he'll let you know if he's not getting enough to eat, you may be producing enough milk that hhe only needs that 10 minute feed to fill up his tiny belly (yay for you! not everyone makes enough at first!) and it'll take a couple weeks for your body to regulate at night, my dd is 8 months and i still leak once in a while at night. and my dd some times had mustard yellow poo and sometimes pea green poo..... and she was a good eater and exclusively bf!

Kudos to you on nursing!! It's absolutely the best thing for you and your baby. I love nursing

Most importantly, just as you said...every baby is different, as is every mama.

My dd1 would nurse for EVER if I would have let her. I would do 20 minutes on each side as a newborn then I cut it down to 15 each as she got a little older. She gained weight as the ped wanted so it was fine to cut the time some.

And she loved to nurse as she fell asleep and usually went 4-5 hours in between nursings. She would eat every 3 hours during a growth spurt: 3, 6 and 9 months for her.
I never leaked but would be incredible engorged in the morning to the point that latching was difficult for her. I would be so hard and flat it was like latching onto a wall lol
That continued for about 9 months!

Even as long as she would nurse, I still didn't feel empty until she began to wean some. Like when she didn't nurse in midmorning. Then I could tell I was emptied. No joke, my boobs felt like soggy pancakes!! TMI probably

When I pumped for her, I did it after nursing most times. I would get between 2 and 4 ounces even after she ate. And I pumped both boobs, always. Demand and supply. If you pump/feed from one side more than the other it will produce more. You don't want to be too lopsided! I am anyways and I definitely didn't want to make it worse. lol

Her BMs were consistently yellow and seedy. Rarely green. At about 3 months she started to poop every other day then it got down to only once a week until we started food at 8 months. Too, this is totally normal since breastmilk is so perfectly suited for baby. It's mostly absorbed so there's no waste to come out.

My dd2 is a whole other story! Pretty opposite actually.

She only nursed for about 3 minutes on each side as a newborn (only on one side for a while) and now, at 6 months, she will nurse about 5 on each side. And it was always every 2 hours! Even in the night. Now she is beginning to go 3 hours in between. In the night she nurses longer at a time and maybe every 4 hours but only on one side.
So when I wake up I'm usually engorged on one side or the other but not both and it's barely engorged. Not painful but a little uncomfortable.

Since she eats so quickly and not always on both sides, when I pump for her, it's usually after I feed her or when I wake up engorged. And I only do the side that feels full because she won't empty both sides very often so I try to even it out.

I have been able to tell that one side has been emptied since the beginning. The ol' soggy pancake feeling returned right after she was born. I think it's because my boobs have done this before so they know what to do. KWIM?

I did stuggle with low supply at 4 months. Never engorged, rarely felt full, and crying baby after eating on both sides. I began to pump in between feedings, after feedings and every morning. In about 3 days my supply was back up and running. Thank goodness!

As for her BMs, they change daily. Yellow and seedy, green, mostly liquid, etc. She is still EBF too. And she poops pretty much after each feeding session too. There hasn't been the slow down like with dd1. Too bad!

Not sure if I answered your questions exactly. But at least now you know EVERYTHING about my daughters!
Good luck mama!!

Last edited by mommytoallgirls; 10-04-2010 at 07:17 AM.
Reason: Just wanted to say: sorry that's so long of a response!! Shew!

Neither of my kids have ever nursed for longer than 5 minutes a nursing session and they were both big babies (100+ percentile until they were 9 months). They were just very efficient.

I've always been told that as long as their poop isn't red (blood) then there are no worries. The green for too much foremilk can be true but baby poop can also be green if they have a virus, if they are having stomach problems or some kids just have green poop sometimes. Since it sounds like it's not an all the time thing I wouldn't worry about it.

Your breast are never completely empty while nursing, your body is constantly making more milk so it isn't uncommon to be able to express a bit. I always "weighed" my breast to see which side to start on and always started on the heavier more full side.

I had the same thing happen with my first DS. He gained over a pound at his first 2 week checkup! They thought there scale was broken.. so they weighed him 3 more times just to see if it was true! That means you are producing CREAM! lol.. That's what my doc told me! :-) I'm sure your baby is getting enough, he is probably a snacker as i called my son.. he would eat every hour for about 5 minutes at a time! I felt like a momma cow... :-) Your LO would cry if he wasn't getting enough.. I would pump a little after feeding him just to keep your supply up and freeze what you have for later! It's a good way to go and you won't get engorged as much! I used to pump as much as i could to save up for when i would need a sitter or went back to work! It sounds like your doing fine! Just listen to your body and baby and you will be fine!

Lol, Joelle, I hear you on the cream bit. DS is five weeks now. He had put on exactly 2lbs from his coming home from the hospital weight at two weeks. He was born at 7lbs 6oz, left the hospital at 6lbs 14oz and when we went back for his month checkup, he was 10lb 7oz! My doc said I must make dense, very calorie rick milk.

DS doesn't feed very long and often I only do one side at a time. Sometimes I have to do the other side 15-20 minutes later, but not always. If I choose to pump, then I do both sides and chug water and I'm plenty full again whenever he's ready to eat more. I've started trying to get into a routine because I will have to pump once I go back to work.

Honestly, this is my third child and the first where I've been this successful with the breastfeeding bit and we are totally winging it. But it seems to have worked out well. And I still leak at night. It never fails.